“Icing” and “frosting” are terms conventionally used to identify spreadable, semi-solid confectionery products that are applied as toppings to sweeten and decorate baked goods such as cakes, breads, cookies, and the like. Generally, icings and frostings can be categorized into several basic types depending in part on whether a particular product contains fat (generally shortening) or not, and whether or not the product is aerated. Types include royal icings, fluffy frostings, cream icings, and aerated creamy frostings. The presence of a fat affects the emulsion characteristics of an icing or frosting. “Icing” is sometimes used to refer to an unaerated composition, while “frosting” tends to refer to an aerated product.
Within this broad category of sweetened spreadable toppings or fillings are ready-to-spread (“RTS”) frostings, which, as the name indicates, are fully prepared frostings that can be spread onto a food product without the need for preparation steps by a consumer-purchaser. RTS frostings are a popular consumer food product due to the convenience of being fully prepared. RTS frostings presented for sale in a fully prepared and optionally aerated state. They can be packaged and stored unopened at room temperature for extended times (a one year shelf life target is typical), or stored after opening at refrigerator temperatures for relatively shorter times. RTS frostings can be applied directly out of a product container to a cake or other baked good without mixing or any other preparation step. RTS frostings are thus formulated so as to be usable without the addition of ingredients or other further preparation steps by the consumer.
Desired organoleptic and performance properties for RTS frostings include a smooth texture, desired consistency, spreadability without flowing or running, resistance to syneresis or weeping of the frosting in an unopened container, resistance to syneresis or weeping between cake layers upon overnight storage, and stability. A density suitable for a low-density, whipped RTS frosting can be from about 0.75 to about 0.95 grams per cubic centimeter. For these low density products, stability requires good resistance to air cell collapse or coalescence upon extended shelf storage or during stirring or other use by a consumer.
Fat-containing RTS frostings, as is typical with many fat-containing prepared food products, are likely or certain to contain a hydrogenated fat ingredient, and, therefore, to include trans fats. “Trans” fats are isomers of naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acids that are typically created during hydrogenation processes of many fat ingredients of frostings, including previous RTS and low density RTS frostings. Partially and fully-hydrogenated fats have been used in processed foods for many years, meaning that many commercial processed food product formulations contain trans fats. Recently trans fats have become disfavored. There is a current strong interest for fat compositions that can be useful substitutes for trans-containing hydrogenated fats in commercial food product formulations, i.e., useful fat ingredients that contain low levels of trans fats or are free of trans fats.
While a strong interest lies in removing trans fats from food products, including RTS frostings and low density RTS frostings, the challenge of re-formulating previous commercial products to avoid trans fats is daunting, especially if consumer expectations are already in place, which is true for low density RTS frostings. The food industry would expect high demand for a low density frosting that includes a low or a very low amount of trans fats, e.g., zero trans fats, but such a product would be less successful if the change in frosting ingredients or processing necessary to reduce the level of trans fats caused changes to the product that would upset consumer's expectations relative to past products.
Thus, although the use of low trans fat in food products is a general goal, replacing a fat ingredient of a food product such as a low-density RTS frosting, which is well established with a consuming public, is an imposing challenge. Replacing any ingredient of an established commercial food product must be done in a manner that does not have an overwhelming affect on taste and non-taste properties of the product. In the case of low density frosting, these challenges are at least as great as with other consumer food products due to consumer expectations that a low density frosting exhibit desired flavor, density, texture, appearance, and stability.